Hey MSNBC’s Matthews: Who’s the Jackass?

MSNBC “Hardball” host Chris Matthews is never short on feisty. He appeared on a panel at NCTA’s Cable Show Tuesday in Boston alongside CNN’s John King and Univision’s Maria Salenas and moderated by C-SPAN’s Steve Scully. The event is a three-day annual convention that attracts upwards of 20,000 attendees. When Scully brought up Matthews’ infamous “thrill up his leg” line about President Obama, Matthews bristled and referred to Scully as one of the “jackasses” who always asks this question.

“Is the thrill still there today?” Scully asked Matthews.

Matthews’ answer wasn’t brief: “If you had done your reporting over at C-SPAN,” he said, dripping with sarcasm, “you would have checked that I said the exact same thing in 2004 after I heard his address up in Boston. …the thrill was real. …I do have physical reactions when people are talking about my country. …I’m an untraditional person but I have traditional values and I love the country and I said so. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said so because I’ve given a lot of jackasses the chance to talk about it.”

With a smile, Scully replied, “Thank you, Chris.”

But Matthews wasn’t finished. “So I hope you feel satisfied that you raised the most obvious question that is raised by every horses ass right winger that I ever bump into,” he said. He then put the knife in and twisted it: “Thank you Steve for serving up that little soufflé you have been working on since last night sometime when your brain exploded with this idea that you were going to ask me about it.”

Scully replied, “We are just about out of time.”

Before they signed off, Scully said, “Come back to C-SPAN tomorrow morning.” Matthews cracked, “I’d be thrilled to be there.”